I love menu planning and seeing other’s dinner plans! I’m weird like that 😉 As I’ve shared before, being in the kitchen is my happy place so I love finding meals that are new but I also never forget our favorites! These will link to the author’s original recipe unless it’s my own recipe/creation that I don’t have a link for… yet.
If you need some inspiration for how to create menu plans you can read here where I go into detail about how I make a plan for our food week and here to read how I create our grocery list.
I don’t make specific plans for breakfast and lunch but these are the basics I rotate between while throwing in a few other things for special days or weeks when I have the right ingredients.
Breakfasts: Pancakes, Coffee Cake, Egg Sandwiches, Sausage Balls, Eggs (various ways), English Muffins, Banana Bread, Biscuits and Gravy, and various types of muffins.
Lunches: Leftovers, PB&J, Meat and Cheese Wraps, Cheese Quesadillas, and Mac ‘n’ Cheese.
Dinners, however, are always planned for since they tend to take the most ingredients and prep time. Here’s what’s on our menu this week:
Sunday: Chicken & Broccoli – We got some amazing deals on the ingredients for this meal so it was only natural to stick it on the menu. I love hunting Sam’s clearance racks! It’s usually pretty sparse but lately we have gotten some great items at a steep discount because they were the last items or the box was damaged. We bought a 6 pack of angel hair pasta for $3 a few weeks ago and this week we bought 3-packs of 32oz cartons of organic chicken stock for $2! Fantastic deals for basic pantry items.
Monday: Breakfast Pizza – If you haven’t given breakfast pizza a try yet you need to give it a shot! Top your crust (here’s my recipe) with enchilada sauce, precooked scrambled eggs and any other toppings you want. We usually opt for a meat plus black beans and corn. Throw cheese on top and bake. Once it’s out add some avocado slices, sour cream and salsa for a great meal!
Tuesday: Enchilada Pasta – We are eating a bit more Mexican food than usual these days because it’s an incredible frugal style of cooking and I’m trying to save some of our grocery budget for Christmas cookies and the special holiday meals. Plus our pantry and freezer are already full of the ingredients!
Wednesday: Club Sandwich Wraps – After eating Cuban tacos over the weekend we’ve got some ham left over plus I’ve got turkey and bacon as well. Roll it all up in a tortilla with fresh veggies on the side for an incredibly easy meal.
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Homemade Pizza and Movie Night – you can find my pizza crust recipe here.
Saturday: Thai Chicken Pizza – How have we gone so long without this going back on the menu? I decided to make it on a weekend this time so Micah would have a chance to eat it fresh rather than as leftovers. Poor guy barely gets to eat any of the food I make fresh with his crazy schedule so I like to mix up when I make things occasionally.
What’s on your menu this week? Have you ever done a pantry challenge and only planned meals with what you have on hand? Have you started your holiday baking yet?